AmCham Hackathon 2026
AmCham Bulgaria Hackathon is a cross-functional educational and community-driven event initiated by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria. In 2026 Edition it is organized in partnership with the Technical University – Sofia; Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, and the Faculty of Physics and Technology of the Plovdiv University “St. Paisiy Hilendarski”.
The project will get together teams of students from the three universities to work together for three weeks on real business cases provided by companies-members of AmCham.
- When: March 13 – April 30, 2026
- Where: Technical University Sofia and Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Physics and Technology of the Plovdiv University “St. Paisiy Hilendarski”, and University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy.
- What: Students from these universities can enroll in this Google Form from February 19 till March 16, 2026, if they would like to participate in the Hackathon. The participation is voluntary. Teams of students will be formed and assigned one business cases to work on during the hackathon. At the end of the Hackathon, teams will present the solution to their business case in front of a jury.
- Why: The hackathon provides a great opportunity for the students to work on real business cases and get mentored by experts from the business on a variety of topics, related to their studies. Students will be able to obtain knowledge, skills and experience about the area they would like to further develop. Students will be able to establish direct contact with different companies and explore opportunities for professional occupation.
Key Dates
- March 20, 2026, 10:00 – 12:30: Official Opening (Technical University – Sofia, Tech Arena)
- April 27, 2026, CoB: Final submission of the solutions of the business cases – tbc
- April 28, 29, 2026: Presentations of the business cases in front of a jury – (Technical University Sofia, Center of Excellence) – tbc
- April 30, 2026, 9:30 – 12:00: Awarding and closing ceremony
Jury
Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Iya Petkova
Director of MBA Program (English) – Human Resources Development, Faculty of Economic and Business Administration, Sofia University,
Ass. Prof.
Mihail Zagorski, MScME, PhD
Faculty Coordinator for Student Engagement and Candidate Student Campaign, Faculty of Industrial Technology,
Technical University – Sofia
Ass. Prof.
Ivan Bodurov,
Secretary General
Physics and Technology Faculty, Plovdiv University
“Paisiy Hilendarski”
Daniel Kiryakov, PMP
Communications &
Public Affairs Manager,
AmCham Bulgaria
Mentors
Doncho Garbov
Lean Engineer
Sensata Technologies
Tsvetelina Petrova
Supply Chain CS Manager
Sensata Technologies
University Mentors
Plovdiv University “Paisiy Hilendarski”
Faculty of Physics and Technology
- Chief Assistant Megi Dakova Ph.D., mdakova@uni-plovdiv.bg, +359 896 602 248 – coordinator
- Assoc. Prof. Mariana Shopova, Ph.D. mariana.vutova@cern.ch
- Ass. Gergana Hristozova, ghristozova@uni-plovdiv.bg
- Ass. Boris Dobrev, boris.dobrev@uni-plovdiv.bg
- Chief Ass. Anatoliy Parushev Ph.D., anatoliyparushev@uni-plovdiv.bg
- Chief Ass. Delko Zlatanski Ph.D., zlatanskidelko@gmail.com
University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy – Sofia
Faculty of Chemical Technology, Department of Pulp, Paper and Printing Arts
- Ass. Prof. Dr. Eng. Nikolay Yavorov, nyavorof@uctm.edu
Faculty of Chemical and System Engineering, Biotechnology Department
- Ass. Prof. Dr. Eng. Stoiko Petrin, stpetrin@uctm.edu
Faculty of Chemical and System Engineering, Department of Industrial Automation
- Eng. Nedko Perchemliev, n.perchemliev@uctm.edu
Technical University – Sofia
Faculty of Computer Systems and Technologies
Faculty of Telecommunications
Faculty of Management
Faculty of Electronic Technics and Technologies
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski“
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA)
- Ass. Prof. Todor Yalamov, Ph.D., Vice Dean
- Ass. Prof. Iya Petkova, Ph.D., Head of the MBA Program
- Ass. Prof. Ivan Petkov, Ph.D.,
Business Cases
You can read more about the case you are interested in by clicking or tapping on it!
- A1 Bulgaria – Unified Smart City IoT Ecosystem
- Enery 1 – Erosion control and soil restoration plan for a newly built PV and BESS project in Bulgaria
- Enery 2 – Partnership for AgriInnovation – Integrating Crops at a PV Plant in South Bulgaria
- IBM – Tech for Good with IBM AI
- Sensata Technologies 1 – AI-Driven Production Performance Intelligence for Digital Daily Management
- Sensata Technologies 2 – Shift-to-shift intelligence: AI‑Driven production & risk summary
- Sensata Technologies 3 – Order entry automation opportunity proposals to increase compliance and minimize errors
- Sensata Technologies 4 – Creating a dashboard on order management quality check, AI support on gap analyses and early alerts
- Sensata Technologies 5 – Design a report or tool that clearly shows how forecast accuracy improvements translate into inventory reduction, item level, linking Forecast accuracy KPIs to SS/inventory excess; report to highlight items where FA improvement has the highest impact on inventory reduction
- Sensata Technologies 6 – Options for invoice processing automation – requirements, strengths, and weaknesses
- Sensata Technologies 7 – AI in accounts payable and account receivable
- Parker Curtis – Creating Digital Twins for Lean Manufacturing & Maintenance
- RingCentral 1 – QA Team Transformation: Strategic Career Shift Under Organizational Change
- RingCentral 2 – Early detection of production performance degradation
- Moto Pfohe 1 – How can we improve sales of Volvo electric vehicles?
- Moto Pfohe 2 – How can we improve sales of Ford electric vehicles?
- Syscom Engineering – Social Engineering Resilience Training for Enterprise Messaging Channels
- HPE – Network Serviceability & Coverage Intelligence Tool
Presentations and Documents
- Business Case Presentation Template: Download Here
- Evaluation Criteria: Download Here (+evaluation criteria and prizes)
- Hackathon 2026 – Goals, Benefits, Evaluation, Companies – as of Feb 16, 2026
- Presentations Schedule – not applicable yet
* Note that if a student attends either the teams presentations and the Awarding Ceremony, and the Opening event, their give their consent to be photographed for the purposes to promote, share the results and the achievements of the AmCham Bulgaria Hackathon 2025.
Evaluation Criteria and Awards
Evaluation Criteria
- Technical skills – Power BI, AI, Machine Learning
- Data analysis and visualization
- Strategic Thinking
- Project Management
- Teamwork
- Presentation skills
Awards
- BIG Winner
- Best Team
- Most Innovative Solution
* All participating companies have their right to award their respective teams.
University Contacts:
- Technical University – Sofia: amanolova@tu-sofia.bg, +359 2 965 3095
- Sofia University, FEBA: o.ignatova@feb.uni-sofia.bg, +359 899 210 355
- Plovdiv University, FTF: mdakova@uni-plovdiv.bg, +359 896 602 248
- University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy – vice-rector.education@uctm.edu
Organizers
Knowledge Partners
Participating Members
Media Partners
